The Spotswood High School football team showed its fight when it had to hold off a furious rally by Metuchen High School to secure a 31-22 victory.
Spotswood had built a 24-0 lead behind senior fullback Nicholas Vincelli, who scored two touchdowns in the first half of the game that was played on Nov. 3 in Spotswood.
However, Metuchen scored 22 unanswered points in the second half. A failed two-point conversion try by Metuchen kept Spotswood up at 24-22 with over four minutes left in the game.
The Chargers iced the victory with a march capped by Vincelli’s third touchdown of the game with just over one minute remaining in the final quarter.
“There were a lot of emotions in this game,” Vincelli said. “We took a nice lead and let it slip away, but we fought. We fought for our last home game.”
Despite missing the state playoffs, Vincelli was proud of the way the team fought in the game and all season long.
“Fight,” Vincelli said. “Fight’s the big thing here. “We started the season 0-3 and fought our way back to 5-4 — a winning record. That’s big,” he said. “That’s big, especially the way we started the season.”
The Chargers will play on the road and head to Jersey City to meet Lincoln High School in the NJSIAA regional crossover game on Nov. 9 at 7 p.m.
Vincelli has high expectations for the team next year.
“I have all the faith in the world for the guys coming back,” Vincelli said. “We have a lot of juniors. They’re going to be good. They have a lot of fight in them, and that’s all that matters.”
Coach Andy Cammarano agreed that his young Spotswood players should be competitive next season.
“These kids expect to compete and to be in the hunt now,” he said. “These juniors, they’ve seen a lot. They’re participating, and they’re going to get better in the offseason, so we’re excited about next year’s team.”
Metuchen’s rally was led by quarterback Will Hronich, who threw for 86 yards and a touchdown, and running back Jaden Rojas, who rushed for 96 yards and two touchdowns. Sophomore receiver Amari Whitehead also had a two-point reception.
The loss dropped Metuchen’s regular season record to 1-7. The Bulldogs will play their NJSIAA regional crossover game on the road against Bernards High School on Nov. 9 at 7 p.m.
Metuchen coach Mike Warnock and Whitehead both believe the team will improve next season.
“I hope that they continue to develop and continue to work on the things that they need to,” the coach said. “Everyone has shown a lot of improvement this year from where we started to where we are now. Every single week, we’re in games and we’re fighting. They just have to keep trying to improve themselves. The better they do that, the better they will look in the long run.”
“I just feel that if we stay together as a team, we’ll be fine,” Whitehead said. “We have a lot of good players leaving, but we have a lot of good players coming back. So if we stick together and do what we need to do to get better in the offseason, we’ll be good to go.”
